Indulging in Bite Size
My new experiment is a new chapter each week on Wattpad in the first of a fabulously funny, new adult/ young adult novella series.
NOW FREE – Giovanni Goes To Med School
Getting into med school was tough, but getting through is a challenge all its own! There’s the usual problems like the endless studying and the lack of funds, and then there’s the crazy hours and the very real possibility of screwing up badly, even fatally. So it’s not so surprising the night-shift at the morgue seems a bit of a relief, a chance to study in quiet with patients that aren’t going anywhere – or is it?
Why would I do this? Well, there’s been much discussion in writing world about serial novellas –
I thought it an area worth exploring! After all, Dickens did it. Already, I see striking differences to writing in a shorter form.
You have to focus. Novellas are not the place for long poetic descriptions, so not ideal for a story like Jane Eyre where the setting is significant.
The pacing is much faster. You have to use active verbs and specific language choices to show characterization, as you don’t have much room to say more than ‘he whimpered’ or ‘he whined’ – two verbs with very different connotations and implications.
Each installment needs to stand alone with a hint of more to come, but without a cliff hanger. Some like them, but each part should have the feel of a beginning, middle, and end. They’re balm to a plotter’s soul with that need for neat and tidy sequence of incidence and consequence!
I’m finding the weekly deadline’s a great discipline. I’m still working on a more traditional romantic adventure, but I like the feel of being able to produce regularly even when I’m pulled in different directions for the semester.
I get to explore young adult. I keep running across research on millennials for work and I work with millennials, so now I’m seeing if I can channel millennials. Just how good a writer am I?
To find out, I need feedback. I’m putting this out on Wattpad as it’s both free and aimed at a younger audience. Please share with anyone who’s interested in young adult, new adult, college, medical school, mortuary science, zombies, and other supernatural phenomenon. Maturity not required!
kathybryson 